Regaining Humanity
by JasonToddsBed
Summary: An injured worgen found half dead in the Howling Fjord, can Thrall help him recover his forgotten past? Follow Kairo on his journey to regain his humanity Rated T just in case, rating may change later on
1. Chapter 1

_***Disclaimer I do not own World of Warcraft, all I own is my OCs Kairo and Adderfang and the plot.***_

Everything looks the same. I can feel the icy winds rustle my fur and chill me to the bone. Blood. All I can smell is blood, my own blood, running down my body in small rivers. I hear it dripping onto the fresh snow, staining it red.

SNAP! My ears twitch at the sound, I turn and face in the direction of the sound, a low growl rumbles in the back of my throat. I shout out, "Who's there?" but receive no answer. In the distance I can make out the outline of two figures. As they approach I can hear two gruff voices speaking in a strange language, no... they're arguing. _Please don't be a Vrykul patrol_, I plead with whatever God is listening.

As they walk closer to me I flatten myself against the fallen tree I decided to rest by to get out of the harsh wind, hoping they don't notice me. I soon realise that, as they get closer, they're not Vrykul but orcs. I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding, _thank the Gods. _The taller of the two stops when he notices me leant against the tree. I scent the air, I can tell that the green orc doesn't belong in this frozen forest... but there is something familiar about his scent that I cant quite figure out.

"Are you okay?" The green orc's deep voice pulls me out of my thoughts,_ was he talking to me this whole time? _

"Yeah, I'm just peachy. What gave me away?" Sarcasm dripping from my every word. The green orc's eyes narrow slightly at my statement. The other orc, a brown skin, growls at me and raises his battleaxe slightly in an unspoken threat. On instinct my muscles tense and I crouch closer to the ground in a defensive stance. A snarl tears itself from my throat and I bare my fangs in an unspoken challenge. The brown orc just laughs. _Doesn't he know a threat when he sees one?_

The brown orc takes a step forward. "Do not disrespect the warchief of the Horde!" _Warchief? Does he mean Thrall? OH! Come to think of it this green orc does look familiar. Maybe he is Thrall._

"I didn't know. I'm probably bleeding to death and he asks me if I'm okay? Kind of a stupid question, ain't it?" All I get in response is a grunt of acknowledgement, I look to the green orc "so you're the great warchief Thrall?" At my question Thrall's eyes softened but the brown Orc, who I can assume is Garrosh Hellscream of the Warsong Orcs, tightens his grip on his battleaxe. Thrall approaches me and I back away, I'm already covered in blood and I don't want to loose more. Thrall notices my movement and sits cross-legged in the snow a few feet in front of me.

"Garrosh lower your weapon and sit." Garrosh complies without argument,a s he sits my eyes flicker from Thrall's face to Garrosh's. _Why are they here? And why me?_

"So, what brings the warchief to the frozen forests of the Howling Fjord?" Garrosh looks away, anger burning in his amber eyes. Thrall looks down for a moment, sighing. _Well, at least I'll have company before my body fails me. _I feel what strength I have left start to fade, the edges of my vision bleeds black and my head feels heavy on my shoulders. 

"A portal mishap... a miscommunication with a mage..." Thrall's voice fades out as I loose consciousness. I feel my body fall and hit the snow I've stained red before my mind completely blacks out. The last thing I see is Thrall lunging towards me before my vision fades.

\- 2 days later -

I wake up to the smell of medicinal herbs and the sounds of voices. I can barely make out their conversation...

"He's lucky that he survived." A female voice, hard and strong. It sounds like Adderfang, the tribes healer.

"We found him before he blacked out, one of your patrols found us." A male voice this time, gruff and deep yet oddly soothing. _AHH! My head is killing me_. I try to sit up but I'm met with a heavy hand pushing me back down.

"Rest. You need it," I open my eyes and come face to face with Thrall. "No need to strain yourself. You're safe."

"What happened?" I let Thrall push me back down to the bed. He turns and pulls over a stool. He sits heavily next to my bed and sighs.

"You passed out on us back there. I healed you the best I could. One of your tribe's patrols found us and brought you back here." _Healed me? But how? He doesn't look like a healer._

"How...?" My voice gets caught in the back of my throat as I'm ravaged by a coughing fit. Thrall turns to a nearby table to pick up a cup.

"Drink this. It'll help." He hands me a cup, I take it with trembling hands. I grimace at the sent of the liquid, Thrall taps the rim of the cup, "Herbs."

"What?" My eyes meet with Thrall's blue eyes, filled with raw emotion, I can't hold his gaze for long and turn my head back down to the cup. Swishing the liquid around in the cup, "Healing herbs, I'm guessing Adderfang gave them to you? She tends to have an abundance of herbs around."

Thrall just looks at me, his eyes filled with an emotion I can't quite name. He shakes his head, "You don't remember me do you? You really have forgotten." I turn at the tone of his voice, _have I met him before? He does look familiar. _"Spirits, you even asked me my name, of course you don't remember."

Thrall stands to leave, I reach out to grab his wrist, "Wait, there is something familiar about you that I can't figure out and its frustrating. Help me to remember, please?" A whimper echoes throughout my chest. I hear the wood of the stool creak. _He sat back down, maybe he'll help me remember. _

I feel Thrall's hand engulf mine reminding me I still hold his wrist in an iron grip, "Why? Why don't you remember, Kairo?" Thrall's voice is low and sombre. My ears flatten against my head, that name bringing strange memories to the front of my mind.

_Flashback_

_Sounds of humans cheering and shouting fill the air around us. I look around the arena, the dead bodies of ogres and hellboars litter the ground. The ring master's voice booms over the delighted screams of the crowd, "Well, another excellent victory to our contestants. It seems our resident wolf is still itching for a fight, let's see if they can handle the next challenger!" The crowd erupts in cheers. _

_I feel a hand rest on the nape of my neck, "You need to calm down, losing yourself to adrenaline won't help us win this next fight." I turn to face Thrall, my ears twitching at the sound around us, his hand tightens on my scruff causing my muscles to freeze. His other hand raises, pointing a finger to the opposite side of the arena, "Get ready, here comes our next fight."_

_I follow his finger to where he is pointing, just as a huge magnataur comes rampaging out of the iron gate, roaring a challenge. My lips pull back into a snarl, roaring back in response to the beast's challenge. "Maybe we'll eat tonight, Thrall. But this magnataur, well he's fair game." I go to lunge forward towards the beast but Thrall grabs hold of my scruff effectively holding me back. A voice sounds in the back of my mind, _**this beast offers a challenge we can kill it and this orc won't stop us.**__

"_Kairo! We need to think about this, don't charge in blind. He'll kill you in the blink of an eye."_

_Flashback end_

"Kairo!" Thrall's voice cut through my memories bringing me back to the present, there was a familiar weight resting at the nape of my neck. "Kairo, are you okay? You look... kind of lost."

"You, you was there. The day I lost myself to the shadows of my own mind, the day I went feral. Thrall, you was there through it all. The arena, the cages..." I trail off, losing myself to the terrible memories of Lord Aedelas Blackmoore and his arenas. I look over at Thrall, his normally bright blue eyes have dulled to a cold steel blue, "do you remember? The day you broke out? They all said to leave me, that I'd just kill you but you wouldn't leave me there, caged like the wild animal I was." A growl resonates in my throat at the thought of being locked up again. "I was chained to that wall, Thrall. An iron collar round my neck keeping me from pacing, I was stir crazy in that cell. A wolf with nowhere to run free, only when I was dragged to the arena was I able to burn of some pent up energy and lash out in anger."

Thrall finally looks at me, anger and hatred brightening his blue eyes, "Yes, I was there, back then I hadn't realised that you had gone feral. Only recently from talking to King Greymane that I've started to piece together what happened to you." Thrall turns towards the doorway as Adderfang walks in.


	2. Chapter 2

Adderfang stands tall in the doorway, her amber eyes look tired in the afternoon light shining through the doorway. "Kairo, you're awake. Good. The Chief has been asking about you all day, and Thrall here hasn't left your side since Thornclaw's patrol brought you back," She turns to address Thrall, "your companion, the brown skin orc, he's looking for you."

Thrall sighs and stands up, "Thank you, Adderfang, I will go to him right away." Thrall bows his head in thanks and turns to face me "I will find you later, rest and get well." Thrall ducks out of the doorway, the rattle of the bird bones and beads fill the silence between me and Adderfang.

"How do you feel, you were out for two days." Adderfang makes her way towards me, her stride closing the gap quickly. She dropped down onto the stool where Thrall was sitting, "Thornclaw found you half dead in the snow with the two orcs. The green one, Thrall I think, he healed you the best he could."

"Thrall healed me? How? He doesn't seem like he could be a healer." I look to Adderfang, she has her eyes cast to the ground. Her ears are pressed against her head. Her eyes shoot towards the door, she lunges for the door, "ADDERFANG! The hell is going on?" I struggle to stand. A sharp pain rips through my ribs stealing my breath. I finally make my way to the door, I push my way through the dangling beads and bird bones. The afternoon sun stings my eyes, the sounds of snarls and growls fill the air around the camp.

"You don't belong here! LEAVE!" A strong and powerful voice echoes around the centre of the camp. _The Chief, he's back from his meeting with Greymane. _The Chief makes his way through the crowd of Worgen. His stone grey fur a stark contrast with his blood red eyes that burn with hatred. His scarred lips are pulled back to reveal his yellowed fangs that betray his age. "I thank you for helping one of my pack members but you have overstayed your welcome."

Thrall stands with his back straight but Garrosh stands behind him in a defensive stance. "I will leave once I know Kairo if fully healed. Not sooner." Thrall holds his head high as he talks to the Chief. His blue eyes are soft but the Chief's still burn hot.

The Chief roars at Thrall, he throws himself towards Thrall knocking them both to the ground. As I watch the fight unfold, a voice makes itself known in my head, a voice I haven't heard in a long time.

**Protect Thrall, the Chief is wrong.**

_I can't just go against the Chief, I'll lose the pack._

_**Forget about the pack, protect our mate.**_

_Mate?_

I drop to all fours, pain forgotten, my lips curl back and my ears flatten against my head. The ice blue feather in my ear brushes against my head reminding me of what I could lose. **Forget the pack, protect our mate. **The same words echo around my head.

As I run toward the fight my body starts to shift, I barely notice the shocked looks of the pack around me. **Protect our mate. **I snarl and lunge toward the Chief, who has his claws rooted in Thrall's sides. As I get within reach of the Chief I sink my teeth into the flesh of his shoulder. _Just where the neck meets the shoulder, perfect._ Blood pours into my mouth and overwhelms my tastebuds, I feel the muscles in his neck twitch and convulse in my jaws. The Chief roars and starts to twist and thrash in my grasp, struggling to break free. I feel the Chief's claws drag down my face, one claw catches my right eye, forcing me to drop him. I take a few steps back shaking my head, my right eye is closed, I can feel the blood running down the side of my face. I watch as the Chief stands up, shaking his head and stretching his neck, his crimson red eyes are practically glowing with adrenaline. His eyes lock with mine, my icy blue eyes narrow. A look of shock clouds the Chief's eyes.

In the corner of my eye I see Garrosh helping Thrall to stand, I turn towards Thrall and Garrosh immediately steps in front of him. "Garrosh, wait. Its Kairo, he is only trying to protect us." Thrall puts his hand on Garrosh's shoulder and pushes himself forwards toward me. Thrall stumbles forward and I catch him on my head, he rests between my ears his hands buried in my scruff. The scent of his blood overwhelms my nose, I whimper and press my tongue flat against the wound on his side and I feel him flinch at the contact. I hear him sigh above me, "Kairo." Thrall's voice is weak and I can hear his heartbeat grow weaker. I let Thrall slide to the ground, I move around to let Thrall's head rest against my side.

I can hear the hushed whispers of the pack around me,

"He can shift into a wolf."

"Spirits! That's a rare sight."

"Why would he protect an orc?"

"YOU!" The Chief's voice silences the whispers, "Why on all of Azeroth would you protect an orc? And I swear to my ancestors if you use the excuse that he saved your life I'll have your pelt as a rug." Anger burns in the Chief's eyes, he takes a step forward and I growl at him.

"Raggedstar." Adderfang makes her way toward the Chief. Raggedstar turns to face her, Adderfang paces herself between me and Raggedstar. "Can't you see what's going on here? Or has losing your left eye rendered you completely blind?"

"It doesn't matter. He still defended an orc. After everything they've done to us, after everything we've been through. These orcs have no place here, they are not welcome." Raggedstar was practically vibrating with anger, his normally red eyes are now black.


	3. Chapter 3

I can feel the heavy weight of Thrall pressing against my side, I can hear his ragged breaths and his slowly fading heartbeat. I feel Garrosh move around me, he crouches next to Thrall. I turn my head towards Garrosh, his whiskey eyes are a swirling storm of mixed emotions. "We need to get him out of here. Kairo, was it? I'm guessing you're going to follow since you just rebelled against your Chieftain." I turn back to face the Chief and Adderfang. I lower myself to the ground, feeling the snow melt against the warmth of my underbelly.

Adderfang turns to look at me, her amber eyes are apologetic. "Raggedstar, you know what Kiaro is, you can't do this to him," Adderfang trails off, her ears twitching betraying her discomfort, "Hati would hate you if you decide to disown one of her own. He's a White Wolf, for Skoll's sake."

The black in Raggedstar's eyes fade and crimson red bleeds through. He looks to the ground, "I know what he is, Adderfang. White Wolves haven't been since in an age. But Kairo has chosen to side with an orc, he doesn't belong here just like the orcs." Raggedstar looks up his eyes meeting Adderfang's for a brief moment and then they meet mine, "I'm sorry Kairo, but after years of being attacked, captured and forced to fight for their entertainment, I can't just forgive them like nothing ever happened."

I watch Raggedstar turn his back to me, I start to feel my body shift again; my bones crack and reposition themselves. I stand on shaking legs, now that the adrenaline has burned off, the pain of my injuries come back full force knocking the breath from my lungs. "Raggedstar?" Upon hearing his name, Raggedstar pauses to look over his shoulder at me, "I don't really understand what's going on, but I'm starting to remember my life before you took me in. I thank you for taking me in and I understand that I'm no longer welcome here. However, you're my family, you're all I have." I walk towards him, he has now fully turned to face me, as I come into arms length I place my hand on Raggedstar's shoulder, mindful of the injury I caused, "Please don't do this to me, I have nowhere else to go."

Raggedstar shakes my hand off of his shoulder, "Let me explain, Kairo. This green orc is your mate-"

I cut his sentence short at the word, "Mate? My wolf said the same thing but-"

"Shut up and listen. White Wolves are of powerful magic, said to be born of Hati herself. Each White Wolf has a mate, a gift from Skoll to help the Wolf's way in life. You are a White Wolf, the green orc is your gift - your mate." Raggedstar holds his head high as he speaks of Hati and Skoll, the great wolves that chase Sól and Mani across the sky. "And since your Wolf recognized the orc as your mate, I'm guessing this is not the first time you've shifted."

I look at Raggedstar dumbfounded, "I've shifted before? But I don't remember ever shifting before. But the Wolf's voice, I've heard him before, when I was younger…"

\- Flashback -

_All I can remember is the wind rushing through my fur, the smell of fear, and the feel of soft grass beneath my paws. I was chasing a stag through the woods before I was attacked by something or someone. The acidic smell of arcane magic, the pain as if burned shooting across my back, the world fading to black as figures made themselves known at the edges of my vision._

_I wake up to the sound of metal hitting metal, I try to stand but find that I'm chained to the floor, heavy iron chains connect to an even heavier collar around my neck. My wrists are also chained to the floor, I'm effectively trapped on my knees._

_I hear heavy footsteps in the distance and they steadily grow closer as if taunting me, _hahaha you're trapped while I walk free, you're at my mercy. _My ears twitch at the sound of armoured boots smacking cobblestone, a shadow falls on the floor just outside of the cage I'm held in. _

_A man comes to a standstill at the door of my cage, but he's not alone; there are even heavier footfalls coming down the way. This one stops when he reaches the first man's side. "Sir Blackmoore, you summoned me?" The second person bows in greeting to the man, whose eyes bore into my own._

"_Yes I did, Thrall. Look at what my hunters found this morning," Blackmoore turns slightly towards Thrall, his gestures towards me. Thrall turns his head to look at me, his blue eyes meet mine and everything around us faded away to nothing. For the briefest of moments it was just him. Only him. _

"_What is he, Sir? I've never seen anything like him." Thrall turned back to Blackmoore, his head tilted in confusion. "What are you going to do with him?" _

"_He's a wolf, Thrall. Maybe one of Greymane's? I don't know. But as of what I'm going to do with him? Well he's going to fight for us." Blackmoore turns his back to me, he starts to make his way back down the hall, "Take him to The Yard, Thrall. See what he's made of, I want him in tonight's fight."_

"_Of course, Sir." Thrall's voice echoes around my cage and the surrounding hall. _

\- Flashback Ends -

"I remember now. Blackmoore he used me for pit fights. I was fighting for their entertainment!" I take a step back from Raggedstar, my lips pulled back baring my teeth, "I remember shifting during my second fight, Thrall stepped in and my challenge, a hellboar, went to attack him and I tore it to shreds. I remember tearing through the cartilage of its ribs. I remember Thrall calming me down."

Raggedstar nodded, "Yeah sounds about right. Your wolf recognized Thrall as your mate, so he listened to Thrall." Raggedstar turns to walk away, "Stick with Thrall, Thistleclaw, you'll heal faster with your mate around. You may stay on the edge of my territory until you're able to make the journey back with the orcs. I'm sorry but I need to protect my clan, I hope you can forgive me." Raggedstar walks away, he makes his way through the crowd that gathered around us "As of the rest of you, you're all dismissed!"

I turn back around to Thrall and Garrosh, "We need to get Thrall some help. I'll go find Adderfang, I know she'll help us." Garrosh nods his head in acknowledgement. I turn to find Adderfang in the doorway to the Medicine Den, "Adderfang? Will you help us please?"


End file.
